Reginald Marsh was the consummate chronicler of everyday urban life, turning his discerning eye to the streets of New York. In countless paintings, drawings, illustrations, and sketches, he captured the city's modernity—electric lights, movie theaters, and billboards; its bustling city centers—Central Park, Coney Island, and Union Square; and its seediness—the down-and-out figures in the Bowery. When asked for his advice to young painters, he replied, "How to draw? Go out into the street, stare at the people. Stare, stare, keep on staring. Go to your studio, stare at your pictures, yourself, everything."
Born in Paris, Marsh's parents were both artists: Fred Dana Marsh, a painter whose work documented the construction of many New York City skyscrapers, and Alice Randall, a miniature painter. Marsh attended Yale University, and was the star illustrator for "The Yale Record," the campus humor magazine. Upon graduation in 1920, he went to New York with the hopes of launching his career as a freelance illustrator. Two years later, he landed a job as a staff artist for the "Daily News." In his first assignment, the series "Subway Sunbeams," he documented the humorous side of city life; the success of the series secured him a daily column, where he depicted the performers and attendees of the popular vaudeville shows. Years later Marsh wrote of the "Daily News" experience, "It was interesting work. . . . On Mondays I'd visit so many vaudeville shows I'd lose track of the number." At the same time, he began painting scenes of street life in New York in oil and watercolor.